by Thabang Leshilo (@Thabang_Leshilo) Emma Watson, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Beyoncé have made me ponder the state of South Africa’s gender equality, what it means to be a female of my generation, and how marketers might think about connecting with us as consumers.
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Brand Politics: The consumer is no moron
by Alistair Mackay (@almackay) Frustrated commentators love to imply that voters are stupid, that most South Africans continue to vote for the ANC because they can’t understand politics, don’t know what’s in their own interests or are “uneducated”. David Ogilvy famously had to correct that line of thinking in marketing as well: “The consumer is not a moron, she is your wife.”
Cannes Lions 2014: SA nets ten more Lions
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has announced the winners of the Mobile, Media and Outdoor Lions categories announced. South Africa took one gold, two silvers and 7 bronzes across the three categories.
Green Sky Thinking: The need for thneed
by Colwyn Elder (@colwynelder) In March last year The Lorax came to our big screen in all its 3D glory and with a star-studded cast of voices including: Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Danny DeVito and Ed Helms. If you missed it, you can listen to the story here, a charming fable of corporate greed (represented by the Once-ler and his superfluous, but fast selling thneeds) and its consequent environmental damage.
Narrated by The Lorax who ‘speaks for the trees’, it’s a pertinent story and the cinematic release seemed timeous and considered, until you realise (or remember) that the original story was in fact written in 1971. That’s right, Dr. Seuss warned us against the dangers of not caring for our environment 40 years ago.
Millennial Ad-Grad: Marketing lessons from Brand Obama
by Faheem Chaudhry (@FaheemChaudhry) Arguably one of the most memorable arrivals to South African shores in recent years was that a few weeks back of US President Barack Obama – the man who during his first presedential election captured the imagination of the world through his message of hope and change for all. While President Obama always has and always will have his fair share of critics, I found myself captivated by his trip, his message for our country, simply, by brand Obama.
As disciplines, politics and marketing are social science cousins. In fact, politics is marketing. It’s about projecting and selling an image, talking to human aspiration and bringing people together through common interests and shared values.
But what underpins brand Obama? And what we as marketers can learn from his brand?
Inside view: Judging Cannes Lions Film
by Alistair King, Chief Creative Officer, King James Group (@alsparkles) The last time I judged Cannes Lions Film I swore never to do it again. I found the process political and argumentative, and many of the jury members devious and full of agendas. I found letters in my room from production houses telling me what work to look out for and hardcover books, elegantly printed by holding companies, showcasing their finest work. Party invites inevitably came with a 5 minute sales pitch on which ads they had entered. All in all I found the whole thing sickening and desperate and so I decided to approach this Cannes with a sense of calm and humour. As it turned out my pre-judging-self-pep-talk proved to be unnecessary. Apart from an early effort to establish alpha dog supremacy in the room, (which Sir John Hegarty won convincingly) the entire process was smooth, friendly and massively constructive.
After 4 days of hearing people motivating for work they admire, you do start to see patterns that mostly fall on nationalistic lines, but generally speaking this year’s panel was wonderfully neutral, with few signs of the block voting and favour trading that typified my previous experience. This time I left having made a few good friends and feeling that the best work won.
By its very nature, the award process is flawed. There are 3500 commercials and films to view over the first 3 days and one can fully expect the opinion of 22 jury members to differ vastly from that of a different set of 22. With so many films to view, many of which are between 30 and 90 minutes in length, judges are initially split into 3 groups to filter out what will eventually become the long shortlist. I have a feeling judges are put into filter panels that minimize the chances of them judging their own country or agency group’s work as I saw very little South African work in my slots, and very little again when I eventually got to view the long shortlist. Much of what I considered to be the best South African work was eliminated at those early stages. It is brutal to say the least. Just like that, your 640Euro entry is gone at the press of an iPad screen. After 3 full days of judging, the jury was put together for the first time to view, in one 14 hour sitting, all 385 films that had made it through. Of these a further 100 would be culled leaving you with what is commonly known as ‘The Shortlist’.
Africa Style: Target markets — what do you see?
by Masingita Mazibuko. Do I experience ads in the same way in which you do, your neighbour does, Brand X’s private clients do? Are we a largely homogenous target market? And if we are, will we remain so for the foreseeable future?
The Switch: What is the currency of aspiration?
by Alistair Mokoena (@AlistairMokoena) The love of money is problematic. Many of the problems we face today can be linked to a desire to possess more. This is an important debate for us advertisers, as almost every client brief we receive asks for aspirational communication.